Title: Strong Enough Chapter 15
Author: Nicki C.
Email: Nimacu@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: I don't own Once and Again or the characters.
Summery: They're in Chicago getting ready for bed.
Feedback: Of Course I want it. I need it. I crave it
A/N* Even though no one might want to admit it, we talk to ourselves when we're alone, whether it's out loud or silently it's all the same.
A/N* Ok, I'm trying to deal with some heavy stuff here, and I have a degree that required I take a lot of drug and alcohol abuse classes. So some of the phrases might sound trite, but I'm doing my best.
"Should you brave the bathroom out there first or should I?" Grace asked Eli with a half smile on her face.
"I'll go first make sure the path is clear and then you can go when I get back." Eli stated
"Sounds like a good idea." Grace paused to smile then spoke again "We make it sound like a war zone out there"
They had started to hear some life moving around outside of the room a few minutes earlier and someone had turned some music on. It seemed like it was going to be a long night of partying for the people in the rest of the house.
Eli looked back at Grace as he left the room with his bag and whispered, "If I'm not back in thirty minutes call for help." Eli was smiling as he closed the door behind him; but the minute he stood fully in the hall the smell of marijuana and alcohol invaded his nostrils. Immediately feelings of protectiveness overwhelmed him, he didn't want Grace around this crap. As he headed into the bathroom (which was thankfully empty) and closed the door he looked into the mirror. He stared into his own eyes for a few moments and started talking to himself "Who are you kidding Eli? You're no one's protector. You were the first one to give her drugs remember? Part of you still wants to go out there and party. Hell more than part of you; most of you wants to go out there and party!" Eli squeezed his eyes shut in part to close out his own thoughts and to stop having to look at his face. The face that wanted desperately to be out there with his friends, but also wanted Grace to wait safely in the bedroom. "God it's been less then a week and I'm already thinking about letting her down" Eli continued to struggle with his feelings about Grace, and the drugs and the alcohol as he got into the shower.
….
When Eli had left the room it gave Grace a chance to look around it without seeming too nosy. She looked at the pictures that Steve had on his dresser, and some of the other things he had lying around. "For someone with such a crowed, messy apartment this room sure is clean" She thought to herself. Grace, who felt at a loss to do anything looked around the room for a book to read when she saw a remote. Which led to her noticing a small TV tucked inside a bookshelf. She turned it on to drown out the noise that was getting louder outside the room as she waited for Eli to return.
…
"Thirty-five minutes? What's taking him so long? Grace thought as she started to impatiently count the minutes he'd been gone. She waited, and then waited some more when forty-five minutes had passed she had just decided to go out looking for him when he entered the room. His hair was soaking wet and he was wearing a white t-shirt and boxers. All thoughts of what had taken him so long vanished as she was hit again by how attracted to him she was to him and how much she loved him.
When Eli entered the room and all he could see on Grace's face was love a wash of guilt ran over him. He stayed in the shower so long because he hadn't been sure what he was going to do when he left it. The thought that he'd almost betrayed her trust, disappointed her, done all the things he promised he wouldn't made him feel physically ill. He'd almost given in… he tried telling himself that it was his life he should be able to have fun; but then he'd remember the promises he'd made and all that Grace had gone through to be with him. They had left their family to be together. In the end it had come down to he needed Grace more than he needed to have fun.
"What's wrong Eli? You look sick?"
"It's nothing, just the stress of the day getting to me."
"Alright" Grace didn't look like she believed him as she headed out of the room.